Wednesday, October 5, 2011

TV/Media Reader Questions

This weekend will signal a shift toward almost total coverage of the final run to the championships in each of NASCAR's three touring series.

Before things get cranked up, there have been lots of NASCAR TV and media items that have been in the news recently. Perhaps, not all of them have been addressed in the columns and media notes on this site.

Wednesday will be a good opportunity to ask whatever NASCAR TV and media questions you have on your mind. During the day, we will try to get answers for you and offer any additional information we have on those topics.

I think this is a good idea and I appreciate the reader who suggested it. Please click the comments button and type in your question. We will be updating the comments section continually on Wednesday, so just check back to see if your question was answered. Thanks!

42 comments:

It was announced this year that DW and Rusty Wallace have both signed with their networks until the end of this current contract in 2014. Is there any contract information on other veterans such as Mike Joy? Larry Mac? the rest of the FOX bunch? TNT's Wally and Kyle? Or over at ESPN the likes of Allen Bestwick, DJ and Andy Petree?

Projects like NASCAR Nonstop on ESPN, TNT's Wide Open Coverage, and FOX's split screen have been great experiments. How soon are we to getting these type side-by-side ads for every race for the whole race?

I wonder if there is a chance more modified races will be shown next year. I am becomming quite fond of those funny looking little cars, but as it stands we seem only to get them live when there are races involving one or more of the top 3 series at the same track the same weekend. I could ask the same thing about ARCA races. Oh, I think I just did.

I still have a problem. Even with my channel guide set to All Channels, my program guide refuses to show any channel there. If I enter channel 364, the program guide takes me to channel 356. I believe that is part of the Encore package.

The guide does show other channels that are not part of my package, but 364 is nonexistent in my guide. What am I missing here?

JD, how far has the mess of internet exclusive rights for Turner been unraveled and how much farther do you see it coming apart to give fans more access. Also do you think that NASCAR will be more mindful of the exclusivity deals with regards to TV, Internet and radio in regards to rebroadcasting or broadcasting live so they don't get themselves in the current situation? I know the TV and Internet deals are up in what 2014??

You have also teased another network(Broadcast Entity) getting involved with NASCAR when the rebid for TV comes up in the future, can you shed some light on who that is? We all know that NASCAR still holds value rating wise especially when you look at it compared to even the World Series which will be a ratings bust if the Yankees don't make it..

Are we ever going to get to see the Canadian Tire Series on TV in the States again? We used to get it over the winter before it was a Nascar divsion and now we don't see them at all after they became Nascar sanctioned. That doesn't make any sense to me! They have great racing and stock (remember that) bodies on the car!

Did you read the ESPN article on Ken Squire a few days ago? His comments on the problems associated with the new presentation of the sport were accurate in my opinion. It was ironic ESPN.com had the article, as they cover the bulk of the NASCAR season.

Has there been any discussion amongst NASCAR and the various broadcasting partners that there are just too many hours of programming?

With showing virtually every practice and qualifying session, in addition to the races. Plus, all the ancillary shows like Race Hub and NASCAR Now. It would seem people have to now pick and choose what they can handle, just based on time. And once you start missing some programs, it snowballs and becomes easier to skip events you had previously watched.

anon 12:26. According to the Dish website, HDTHR is available in the Dish America package. I think it is the package for extra HD channels. I get everything except the subscription channels. They've changed the names of everything since I got it years ago.

Did you read the ESPN article on Ken Squire a few days ago? His comments on the problems associated with the new presentation of the sport were accurate in my opinion. It was ironic ESPN.com had the article, as they cover the bulk of the NASCAR season.

Do you have the link to the story and would you please post it if you do?Many thanks.

I don't have any pertinent questions other than to ask if "Hyper tight" camera shots of 43racing cars is how it's going to be.

Rich theres was a lot of buzz about that question in June/July of this year. This is a quick bit from an article I found from Scene Daily

"Many in NASCAR breathed a sigh of relief this month when Dan Hesse left no doubt about how Sprint views racing.

Hesse, the CEO of Sprint, made it clear in an interview with The Kansas City Star that the company wants to keep its name on NASCAR’s top series. Discussions about a contract extension have already begun, he said.

In other words, dialing for dollars on a new sponsorship deal may not take long."

if you wanna read the full article go to google and type in Sprint to stay sponser of Nascar

Thanks JD, silly me I searched Ken Squire. His comments are right on and an indication as to why winged sprint car racing on a short oval is so exciting. I'm sure we all saw the driver being pulled put of the burning, upside down stock car on the news. Makes you sit up and pay attention for sure.

So if we are stuck with hyper tight I guess we'll have to watch a close up shot of a driver during side-by-side coverage in the future too.

JD -- Thanks about the Mods. (I think) Not your fault anyway. Mods not a feature of my growing up (or, I guess my old age as nobody runs them around here), they being a Northeast thing, but I am beginning to see why Mike Joy thinks so highly of them!

@Sam --

Gosh I wish we did get (some of) the Canadian Tire Series! Spent the summer up yonder way and those guys are killer.

(i.e. -- not sanatized like NA$CAR. They race for blood.)

PS: I wonder what GinaV/24's question was she was "thinking" about. Musta been killer since she never raised it. :)

Good question and to that I'll add; Why is DW going Down Under for SpeedTV's broadcast of the big race? How can he add to the race when he doesn't know the drivers or the history of that particular event or the season to date. Knowing the history (or lack there of)is something you have pointed out about Marty Reed JD.Why not use the regular anouncers that have current knowledge of the division?I know, I know, "It's what sells"...

Casey: Brian France said he would be fine if the same TV partners returned. It is possible two new media players will jump un when contract talks open shortly. Sprint Cup will stay expensive.

Anon: FOX loves Michael and trust me, he is destined for an even bigger opportunities on TV.

John: SPEED is now run by David Hill, who is an Aussie. He sees the Aussie V8 series as a property that can be developed for US TV. DW and Mike Joy are nothing more than familiar faces to get NASCAR viewers to take a peek.

Well I didn't need DW for a reason to watch, we'll be tuned in. Of course this is a "get DW's feet wet" kind of thing because the V-8 Supercars will be at the Americas in Austin next year and I guess we know who will be calling the race.I have no problem with DW, it is what it is.Are you, JD, going to have a blog up for that race? It will be interesting to see how they televise the event as oppsed to what we have.

Eric Shanks is the prez of FOX Sports, the company the produces the sports for the over the air TV stations. David Hill used to have that job.

Hill is now in charge of SPEED, working from Los Angeles as the FOX/News Corp executive running the show.

Hunter Nickell is the president of SPEED, he is based in Charlotte and is responsible for the profit and loss as well as the performance of the network in the ratings.

Patti Wheeler was added when Hill took over and is running the production and programming depts. That means she controls what you see and when you see it.

In terms of a producer and director in the TV truck:

The role of the producer is to tell the stories and that starts long before the actual show. He coordinates any features, hosts conference calls and gets the updated news. During the race, he talks to the talent in their ear, interfaces with his pit producer and makes the decisions on what replays to use when.

The director is the technical guy who controls the audio and video portions of the program from start to finish. He is the house painter and the producer is the designer.